Captured (The Captive Series Book 1)

Summary

Professionally re-edited and updated 9/15/18.Blood Slave.

Captured, taken from her beloved family and woods, Aria’s biggest fear is not the imminent death facing her, but that she will be chosen as a blood slave for a member of the ruling vampire race. No matter what becomes of her though, Aria knows she must keep her identity hidden from the monsters imprisoning her. She has already been branded a member of the rebellion, but the vampires don't know the true depth of her involvement with it, and they must never know.

Though hoping for death, Aria’s world is turned upside down when a vampire named Braith steps forward to claim her. He delays her execution, but Aria knows it’s only a matter of time before he drains her, and destroys her. Especially once she learns his true identity as a prince within the royal family, who started the war that ultimately brought down humankind, reducing them to nothing more than servants and slaves. Aria is determined to hate the prince, determined not to give into him in any way, but his strange kindness and surprising gentleness astonish her. Torn between her loyalties to the rebellion, and her growing love for her greatest enemy, Aria struggles to decide between everything she has ever known and a love she never dreamed of finding.

Mature YA/New Adult. This book contains some language, violence, and sexual situations. Recommended for ages sixteen and up.

Cover art by Ebooklaunch

This series is now complete. Recommended reading order for The Captive Series.Captured (Book 1)Renegade (Book 2)Refugee (Book 3)Salvation (Book 4)Redemption (Book 5)Broken (The Captive Series Prequel)Vengeance (Book 6)Unbound (Book 7)

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my parents, siblings, nieces and nephews who make life more interesting and fun,

and Leslie Mitchell from G2 Freelance editing for all her hard work.

Table of Contents

Books by the author

Special thanks

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Where to find the author

About the author

CHAPTER 1

Blood slave.

The words were enough to send a cold chill of terror down Arianna’s spine. She shuddered, swallowing heavily and repeatedly, as she tried to wet her suddenly very parched throat. Her lips were sore; she could taste her dried blood upon them as they were chapped and cracking.

She’d had nothing to drink in hours, she was thirsty, and her mouth was dry as cotton. The fire that consumed parts of the forest had burned her throat, and she could taste the ash on her tongue.

The smell of smoke clung to her, cloying in its acrid odor. She would give anything for some water, but she was fairly certain her misery and discomfort would soon be coming to an end anyway.

The dead did not require water after all.

Surprisingly, the thought of dying aroused less fear in her than the alternative of becoming a blood slave did. Though the notion never entered her mind before, she realized she’d prefer to take her own life before such a thing happened to her.

The thought of being kept, of being trapped and used for the most disgusting means known to man, was enough to make her want to rip out her hair and run screaming in horror.

She did neither, however, because she couldn’t move enough to carry out either action. She was trapped, surrounded, penned in by the bodies crammed against her. The raid on the encampment in the woods was successful. The temporary homes of many ripped apart, destroyed, then set ablaze. Their lives were irrevocably ruined; they would never see their loved ones again.

The fortunate ones, the ones who weren’t chosen to be blood slaves, would be bled outright. Their blood would be drained unwillingly, and painfully, from their bodies. A hundred separate needles would pierce their skin before they were finally killed.

The blood would be bottled and saved for later use. The unfortunate ones, the blood slaves, would be used over and over again until their owner became tired of them and either sold them off or bled them dry.

Aria hoped she would be chosen to be bled dry. She would rather feel the sting of a thousand needles than be repeatedly used for months or years. However, she had a feeling if the vampires found out who she was, they would never allow her such a compassionate death. They would never grant the merciful end she fervently hoped for.

She glanced at the people surrounding her. She knew they would all willingly die before they revealed her identity; she also knew she was a complete idiot for allowing herself to be captured in the first place.

If these monsters ever found out who she was, they would have strong leverage over the rebellion and her father. They would try to use her against the rebels living in the woods, hiding, moving, and fighting the vampires who relentlessly hunted them. The vampires who had taken their world and twisted it into a cruel mockery of what it once was.

At least that was what she’d been told happened.

She didn’t remember a world without starvation, hiding, and death. She didn’t recall a world where food was purchased in stores, and homes were heated and cooled. She knew a world of woods and caves, of hunting and struggling for her meals.

She knew a world that was either brutally hot or deathly cold, a world where there had never been a consistent roof over her head. A world where her father was the leader of the rebel movement, her mother was dead, and her two brothers were being trained to take over their father’s position one day.

She’d never experienced a life of safety and security, never experienced a life where she wasn’t fighting and running daily. She’d heard the stories of the world before the vampires ruled, and though she was sure some of the tales were wrong, she still thought that world sounded amazing compared to the reality of this one.

As a child, she foolishly pined for that world. As an adult, she threw aside childish dreams in favor of learning how to fight and hunt. Instead of dreaming of a world that no longer existed, she learned to survive.

After childhood, hugs stopped being exchanged amongst her family, and the only praise she received lately was for her far superior skills with a bow and arrow. However, though love wasn’t freely given, she knew it was there, and it was strong.

Her brothers would risk everything to get her back; her father would want to do the same, but he would also know it couldn’t be done. No matter how much he’d want to, he couldn’t risk the lives of so many for one person, even if she was his daughter. It would kill him to lose her, he would make the sacrifice, just as he had sacrificed so much else in his life.

No, she had no grand ideas of salvation. No dreams her brother, William, would charge recklessly in to rescue her, yelling like a banshee, just as he charged so wildly into everything he did.

She didn’t have these dreams because her father, and the ever-sensible Daniel, would never allow William to do such a thing. They would probably have to tie him up just to keep him away. He would hate it, but it would be the only way to keep him alive.

A twinge of regret and sorrow filled her at the thought of William. He was her twin, her other half. They had been nearly inseparable since conception. He would never get over this, just as she never would have gotten over his loss if their roles were reversed.

She never should have allowed herself to get caught. But then, she hadn’t had a choice. The child...

Aria’s gaze slid to Mary Beckins. Mary stood proudly, her shoulders thrust back, her chin jutting out as she stared unblinkingly across the sea of heads before her. If it weren’t for the tears streaking silently down Mary’s dirt and soot smeared cheeks, Aria would have thought her fearless. Even with those tears, she still looked proud, defiant... unbreakable.

Seeming to sense Aria’s stare, Mary’s eyes slid toward her. It was Mary’s child, John, whom Aria had saved. It was John’s place she took in this cramped hell of near certain death and deprivation.

Aria had forfeited her life for young John’s, and she would do it again if she had the choice. She just wouldn’t have been so reckless about it. She wouldn’t have plunged in carelessly, and she would have at least tried to think of a way to ensure she and Mary weren’t caught too.

Like her twin though, she rarely thought out her actions and often charged thoughtlessly forward, heedless of the consequences. But these were by far the direst consequences she’d ever faced, and they would also soon be her last. Or so she hoped.

Mary held her gaze for a moment; gratitude filled her brown eyes. She briefly nodded her thanks and managed a tremulous smile Aria returned.

The vampires didn’t know who Aria was, or who her father was, and she was certain no one who knew her here would tell them. The people had always respected and admired her father, but today, with her actions, they had also come to admire and respect her too. They would all die before they handed her over, even if handing her over meant a pardon on their lives and a chance at freedom for themselves.

Worry not, girl.

She tried to turn to see who had spoken to her, but she couldn’t move against the crush of bodies pressing against her. She could smell the dirt, the sweat, the fright, and smoke adhering to all of them. Life in the woods didn’t allow for regular bathing. She was accustomed to body odor, but this was far more intense than what she was used to.

She didn’t know if it was because they were all so confined when they were used to wandering free, or if it was the inevitable end of their lives making their odor exceptionally acute.

Either way, the stench was overwhelming. She wanted to gag on it or cover her nose and attempt to block it out. She wanted to cry, but she stood frozen by the paralysis of revulsion gripping her.

Sudden movement drew her attention back to the stage set up before them. A stage for crying out loud. It wasn’t humiliating enough to be packed in like this, but they would also be paraded forward, separately examined, and chosen from the specimens presented. Aria shuddered again as she struggled to keep her composure in this swiftly unraveling, and entirely unfamiliar world.

Be brave, Aria, be brave. She swallowed heavily, managing a small nod as the man behind her whispered in her ear again. Take strength from those around you.

Aria fought back the hot wash of tears flooding her eyes. She straightened her shoulders, refusing to show weakness, refusing to break in front of the monsters now lining up before them.

As long as she was selected for death, she could remain strong through this. She would be as brave as her father and brothers would be in this situation. She would never give the vampires the satisfaction of seeing her break; she would die with her pride firmly intact.

There was a ripple of movement amongst the imprisoned crowd. Aria realized the gate had opened, and they were starting to pull out people. She watched in disgust as they removed the first person and led them up the stairs to the stage. She didn’t recognize the young woman, who openly sobbed as she was paraded before the line of monsters eagerly eyeing her.

Behind the stage, other vampires had gathered on the street leading through the heart of the town contained within the massive walls surrounding the distant palace. The vamps were crammed in between the two and three story buildings lining the street as they eagerly strained to see the fresh human meat.

The enormous walls, offering protection for the town nestled within them, enclosed nearly four square miles of land around the palace. The richest, the aristocrats of vampire society, resided within the walls, lavishing in their lives of opulence and brutality while the humans they enslaved suffered at their greedy hands.

She despised them.

Every part of her, every cell in her body, hated every single vampire within these palace walls as well as outside of them. The only thing she hated more was the humans who had betrayed their kind to reside in relative freedom amongst the ruling class of vampires.

On the mountain, rising above the town like an avenging demon, the imposing palace loomed over them. She’d seen it before, it was impossible not to notice its glistening turrets and golden spires from the treetops, but she’d never been this close to the enormous structure before.

She hated to admit it, but the palace was impressive and beautiful as it glimmered in the muted rays of the sun. She hated it terrified her as much as it did, but she couldn’t shake the overwhelming sense of doom as she gazed at the massive, elegant structure housing the biggest monster of them all, The King.

Unable to look at it anymore, Aria tore her attention from the palace. Her attention drifted down the hill behind her. Beyond the outer palace walls, scattered towns were situated within the valley nestled below. Those towns housed the human, servant traitors and vampires who weren’t as wealthy as the ones gathered on the street across from her.

Her people starved, they froze to death in the woods and caves. They fought to retain a freedom that was elusive, and brutal, while their kind betrayed them, and the captured fighters were brought here to be humiliated, tortured, and sold.

The gathered vampires watched the proceedings with an air of indifference that left Aria fuming. It was bad enough they’d been caught, and were considered no more than food, but did they have to be treated as if they were worth less than an animal?

Actually, most animals she came across were treated far better than this as they were necessary for human survival. Aria’s hands fisted at her sides; her jaw clenched as she fought to keep control of her volatile temper.

She watched as a woman was led to the side. The woman bowed her head; her shoulders shook with the force of the tears as she was led onto the stage. The woman’s clothes were little more than rags, though Aria knew her clothes weren’t much better. For that matter, neither was her hair or overall appearance.

Due to the hunting party, she’d been with before being captured, she’d gone longer than usual without bathing. The lingering scent of blood, body odor, wild animal, and death stuck to her. They didn’t blend so well with the other awful smells encompassing her. She found herself hoping her dismal appearance and stench would be enough to earn her the much-coveted sentence of death.

A boy was brought forth next, then a shirtless young man who was well muscled from hunting and working within the forest. The man wasn’t led over to the boy and woman but escorted over to a vampire.

A young woman came forward to claim him, or at least she appeared young; there was no way to know her real age. She was tall and thin, with a hawkish face both brutal and strangely beautiful.

The vampire woman eagerly eyed the young man; the look in her eyes caused Aria’s legs to shake. It was more than apparent what the woman was going to do to him. She wasn’t going to wait long either as she hastily led the man off the stage and through the crowd gathered on the street. The crowd leered after them as they disappeared.

Aria wasn’t sure she would make it through this. She understood now the woman and boy on the stage were destined for death, something the boy also seemed to realize as he began to weep.

The muted sound of sniffles began to make their way through the rest of the crowd. The majority of people remained strong, but it would only be a matter of time before they were also broken beneath the heel of the monsters now holding their fate.

More people were brought forth. The compression of bodies around her eased, if it weren’t for the tense pressure in her chest, she might have been able to inhale easily again. Instead, she could barely breathe through the panic threatening to crush her.

Most people were slated for death, but it was the ones chosen to be blood slaves who sobbed the loudest. Aria was panting for breath when someone stepped beside her. A work-worn hand slipped into hers and squeezed it reassuringly.

Turning toward the person beside her, Aria felt like she’d been kicked in the teeth when she saw